Hotblack
by mzfeistyx3
Summary: Sequel to "Scars". Trying to overcome her depression, Dawn promised herself that she would never fall back in love again. But, that promise soon eventually breaks and she forgets about Paul, just for a short period. Thinking he's dead, her thoughts are immediately proved wrong when she comes face to face with him again. However, he is not the same person she once knew before.
1. I'm caught in between

**Author's Note: The sequel is finally here! **

**That wait wasn't so long, now was it?**

**Firstly, if you are a new reader for this story and have not read "Scars", I suggest you read that story first before you start reading this one. You'll get confused with some of the events going on in this story if you have not read the first part of this piece…**

**But if you **_**have**_** read the first part, then you're all caught up and ready to find out what happens next in my wild yet amazing story mines. Also, the title of this story was inspired by the song **_**Hotblack **_**by **_**Oceanship. **_**I suggest you listen and watch the video to that song to take a full understanding of where this story will be leading to. (:**

**Now where do I start first? Oh right, where I had left off.**

_Nurse Joy adjusted the hospital mask on her face carefully and proceeded to the process she was doing. She immediately turned off the heart monitor and the breathing machine. Since the young man in the bed just passed away, there was no need to keep them on and there's really nothing she can do to save an already dead person's life. Sighing, she took one last glance at the deceased young man. He looked alive and strong in her eyes, and she wondered how in the hell a single bullet shot in the chest could kill someone that looked this way. But, no matter how strong or weak the person looks, nobody is unbreakable. Everyone _is _breakable, especially with death._

_She ran a hand through her pink curls and then removed the hospital mask from her face. It was time to take him to the morgue, but before she does so, she needs the help of others to help take him there._

_Nurse Joy let out another breath and grabbed a hold of her glass of water. She was tired as hell considering she was working all day, so of course dehydration was going to form somewhere inside of her. She took large gulps, and then removed the glass away from her lips._

_Biting down on her lower lip, she left her mask on the bed and swiftly exited the room._

_When Nurse Joy was off getting help from others, Paul's hands twitched slightly along with his eyes. However, he remained still for a few seconds and then moved his head slowly, letting out a low and heavy breath. As his eyes opened, he saw nothing but a blur and confusion filled in his face immediately. Where the hell was he? He took a brief look around his surroundings and realized he was in the hospital. Why was he in the hospital? No one was in the room to answer him._

_As he took a glance through the window, spotting Nurse Joy speaking with other doctors, he overheard her speaking with other nurses and doctors. "I got everything settled and made sure everything was off. All that I need to do now is take him to the morgue, but I need your help." In panic, Paul's eyes widened when he realized she was talking about taking him to a morgue. A morgue? He thought, more confusion filling his face. He wasn't even dead! And they're talking about taking him to a morgue?_

_Shaking his head momentarily, he immediately ripped off all the cords that were connected onto his body and as he did so, he let out a soft hiss towards every rip. Stumbling off of the bed, he fell onto the floor hard, and he groaned lowly, cursing to himself. He had hoped the nurses or doctors hadn't heard that loud thump…_

_He noticed a back door in the room and he immediately went for it, placing his hand on the handle. He had pushed his way through that door and closed it so Nurse Joy or the others wouldn't have any suspicions. _

_When he realized it lead to someone else's room, he discovered a body resting on the gurney. Determined to not wake the person up, he slowly walked towards the front door of the room and exited. Whipping his head around, he discovered the nurses and doctors following Nurse Joy into his room and as they did so, he immediately ran for the front doors of the hospital and made his escape._

_Suddenly, the glass of water that was in Nurse Joy's hands immediately dropped just by the second she landed her eyes on the bed; and the glass crashed into billions of pieces. Glass pieces were surrounded by her feet, and water was flooding half of the floor. The other nurse and the doctor looked at Nurse Joy in surprise. When Nurse Joy discovered Paul was nowhere to be found on that hospital bed, she can only manage to choke out such little words, "Wh-where… is Paul?"_

Dawn concentrated hard on her notebook, studying as much as she can to Ace her finals on her exam for Geometry. Since the tragic news about Paul was revealed, she had been trying her hardest to focus on something else besides the fact that he is gone. Her idea of that was by getting into college again. It took her a long while to find a college that would accept her, but when she got accepted, she immediately went for that college and hoped to focus on brand new things in life.

She moved out of Drew's house and went off to Twinleaf Town just to go to college. However, she had her own dormitory and shared it with her first and only roommate, Lyra. She settled into college _again _because she wanted something productive to do, and not in the place where all the haunting memories lie in… she wanted to be here in Twinleaf Town, where she had grown up in since she was little. So many wonderful memories were here in Twinleaf that she couldn't even count them all. Besides that, her days had been better, well at least, a _little _better.

Every time she tried to think of something happy, she always ends up depressed because the first happy thing she thinks of always reminds her of Paul…

Groaning at her thoughts, she could feel tears brimming at the corner of her eyes and she pushed them back immediately. She slammed her notebook closed and settled it down on her bed, running a hand up her head and through her blue locks. She swiftly climbed off of her bed and mumbled, "Get out of my head, get out of my head," over numerous times. She did that every day when she felt herself coming close to her break. No, she wasn't going to let herself break down again, she was going to be strong, and she _needed _to be strong.

Lyra cleared her throat, bringing Dawn's attention immediately to her. "Isn't it time for school?"

Dawn blinked. When she set her eyes on her clock, her eyes immediately widened once she realized what time it was. "Shit," she groaned through her teeth. "Professor Hetson is gonna kill me,"

"I'd better hurry if I were you!" Lyra beamed, flashing a bright smile at her blue haired friend. In a hurry, Dawn took a quick shower and rushed into her clothes faster than a car beginning to drive after a stop sign. As she got settled into her clothes, she wrapped her hair into a tight ponytail, leaving her bangs flinging against her forehead. She then scattered into her remaining needs, yelling out "I'll be back later," and hurried out the door.

As soon as she made it outside of the door, she was off in a hurry just to make it to _Platinum University. _When a few minutes flew on by, she rushed through the doors and into her first class room.

All eyes fell on her in a matter of seconds, and Professor Hetson stopped speaking with the class, his attention on her as well. An awkward silence filled into the room, and Dawn just simply pursed her lips and smiled awkwardly. Spotting an empty seat just across the room, she quickly rushed to that seat and settled down. "Late again, Berlitz?" Hetson flashed his eyes at her.

She smiled partially, "I, uh… was studying hard for my final in Geometry. I guess I lost track of time." She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and picked up her book bag, retrieving her binder from the inside.

"Remember when you assigned me to send a letter to your boyfriend? Oh, well, I was going to, but I was having sex with some whores at a club. I guess I lost track of time, and he never got the letter." Hetson sarcastically responded, a smirk playing on his face. He was a young Professor, and he was known for making such rude comments about anyone and everything_, _which Dawn, indeed, hated about him.

"Whatever," she muttered through her teeth, narrowing her eyes at her binder and opening it. She retrieved her phone from her purse after a moment, and began playing around with it, out of his sight.

"As I was saying, I assigned all of you to write an essay about anything in this damn world. Doesn't matter," he adjusted his glasses and looked down at the papers in his hands, "A ton of you have _awful_ grammar which needs to be fixed immediately. Felt like I was reading from a _child's_ work." He spat out with such bitter taste, and Dawn rolled her eyes with annoyance.

"Explain to me what the fuck _'yours truly,' _or _'sincerely' _has anything to do with this assignment?" Hetson hardened his eyes on a specific student, and Dawn recognized the student as one of her friends, Leona. "I asked to write an _essay, _not a fucking _diary entry_."

Leona remained quiet, and her lips trembled as she tried her best to avoid eye contact with him. Why does Hetson always have to be so mean? Dawn guessed he must have had a pretty messed up life, but that doesn't give him the right to treat everyone like ultimate shit.

Hetson continued to ramble and ramble on cruel comments about each of the students _mistakes, _or so he calls, on the essays. Dawn wouldn't be surprised if he even bashes her essay as well. "I thought every essay that I have read last night was _shit, _BUT luckily, I found one that almost wasn't completely shit."

"Wow, what a surprise." A sarcastic voice, none other than Lucas, the boy with bright blue hair that almost matched the same tone as Dawn, responded.

Ticked, Hetson lingered his eyes onto the young adult. Lucas smiled confidently, showing no kind of emotion towards what Hetson has to say. "Would you just shut the fuck up?"

"No. Hasn't anyone ever told you that teaching cruelly against anyone in this school shows poor behavior in a teacher?" Lucas let out a blow as a gigantic pink bubble began to form around his mouth; it was gum. It popped quickly and an irritated vein popped out of Hetson's forehead. Dawn chuckled lightly from her seat.

"Oh yeah? Well, hasn't anyone ever told you that if you keep talking back to me you'll get dropped out of this class?" Hetson had his eyebrow raised, a sarcastic smile on his face. Lucas' face fell flat and he groaned quietly, becoming extremely pissed off with this guy.

Hetson soon resumed back to what he was explaining, remembering that he was just about to discuss the essay he had found interesting.

Dawn yawned and narrowed her eyes down to her binder, and pressed her finger down on her iPhone screen, swiping left in her photo app. She soon came across a picture of her and Paul. Her mind completely fell blank once she realized she still had a picture of them saved onto her phone…

When her phone was snatched out of her hands, she shouted "hey!" in conflict, realizing Hetson had taken away her phone. He slammed her essay down on her desk in front of her and called out a demand. "Read this out loud to the class."

She furrowed her eyebrows together; taken into a turn of anger and frustration. "No," she spat.

"Read it, or I'll give out a referral."

"You can't give out a referral just 'cause I don't want to read a personal essay of mines." She recalled in defense, her nerves beginning to come in.

"Then why did you write something personal from the start?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her. The blue haired girl closed her lips, saying nothing else. A light chuckle left his lips and he grabbed her paper in his left hand, her phone in his right. He began reading the words that were plastered onto the paper aloud for everyone to hear and Dawn saw her whole world flash before her eyes.

"I fell in love quickly, and I fell _hard. _When I first met him, he saved my life from a bunch of guys who were hungry to grab a taste of me. He'd taken them down one by one, and _that's _when I knew I fell in love. We're opposites. He's more of the dark, short-tempered, kind of guy and I'm more of a soft-hearted, optimistic kind of girl. I thought there would never be a me and him, but I was immediately proved wrong.

"As days went on by, it soon turned into a relationship and then, eventually, problems arrived and disturbed our relationship, destroying it. We decided to try again after a long and heartbreaking argument, aiming to get a new and refreshing start, until death came into the picture and stole him away from me."

Dawn's heart was racing second by second, her breathing becoming heavier. She felt that large block of emotions building inside of her, practically trying to force its way out of her.

Hetson had stopped reading and a devious smile was on his face, his arms raised as he narrowed his eyes onto the picture on Dawn's phone. "I'm guessing _this _is the guy you loved so dearly?" he called, his eyebrow raised as he settled his eyes on the young woman. "He's pretty handsome," he had smiled at the picture, his eyes leaving hers.

Tears soon taken over her and it collided down her face. "Fuck you," she responded bitterly. Letting out a breath of air, she immediately got up on her feet and rushed out of the class. Blinking in surprise, Hetson chuckled awkwardly and raised his shoulders. "What's her problem?"

Lucas got up from his seat and made his way up to Hetson, snatching Dawn's phone out of his hands. "Take a guess, you dumbass." He spat harshly into Hetson's face, turning briefly and exiting out of the room as well.

**Author's Note: He is a dumbass lmao. So what do you guys think of Professor Hetson so far? He deserves to be fired.**

**OH EM GEE AND Paul **_**IS**_** alive, oh my god. How many of you knew this from that cliffhanger I left you guys on the last chapter of Scars? (; I certainly knew it. However, Dawn doesn't know **_**yet.**_

**Not to be all cocky and shit, but yesterday was my birthday and I'd like it if ya'll wished me a "Happy Belated Birthday", (; Just turned 15 aha. Anyway, review por favor! I'll update the next chapter as soon as I can.**


	2. The love, that I still have for you

**Author's Note: Thank you for all the birthday wishes!**

**I'm so happy to have all of my readers back! Can't wait to read all of your reactions with what goes on in the second part of Scars. (: of course, more shit is bound to come. I never have a **_**happy ending **_**just yet.**

**In case some of you don't know, Lucas is the guy from the anime and the game from Pearl, Diamond, and Platinum. Remember when you start the game and you have to choose between which girl and guy? (the guy is Lucas!) so yeah that's him, and he had only appeared once in the anime, sadly. **** Since we do not know how his personality is like on the anime, I decided to create a personality for him of my own, **_**and **_**I had changed his appearance much likely. His hair is all spiky and blue, so. (:**

**Yeah, so Sinnohshipping is bound to happen. **

**But Dawn's heart forever goes for Paul. If you don't remember, she had told Paul, "I'll love you forever, Paul. That's the problem." In Scars, chapter 20… **

**Anywayyyyy,**

**Let's see what happens next, shall we?**

She hated him so much, to the point that she felt like throwing a rock across his face. Why does Hetson always have to be a jerk? Teachers don't treat their students that way so why does he have to? What did she _do_ to _him_? She had done _nothing!_ No one in his class has done _nothing _to him to make him treat his students so cruelly. Professor Hetson deserved any negative thing for what he has done in return.

Dawn let out a huff and closed her eyes tightly, dropping her face back down into her hands as more tears escaped from her eyes.

"Uh.. hey," an awkward voice had said. Dawn coughed and brought her head back up to see the person who was standing before her. It was Lucas and he had her phone in his hand, pointing it at her.

"I believe this is yours," he had said, referring to the phone in his hands. Dawn blinked and lingered her eyes onto her phone, then glanced back up at him. She slowly took the phone from his hands then placed it down on her lap, staring at the floor as a low murmur left her lips. "Thank you…"

Lucas smiled barely, "Don't mention it," Dawn glanced back up at him.

"I'm sorry for what happened back there," he responded, pushing her thoughts of Paul away and bringing her attention back to him. "You didn't deserve that,"

Dawn remained silent and then looked away, shrugging. "I'm used to it," she lied.

She was never used to it; she was always _irritated _with it. No matter what she does or _says _to him he always has to treat her like crap, along with everyone else. She had hoped that one day someone will get him fired, something that _he, himself_ deserves.

Lucas let out his hand for her to grab and Dawn was immediately taken into slight confusion. "…why, are you being so nice to me?" her eyebrows furrowed together and his blue eyes burned into her own.

"Nobody deserves to be treated unkindly," he flashed a slight smirk on her, and Dawn scoffed, "Yeah, according to Hetson, everyone deserves to be treated unkindly, whether you are a kind person or not."

"That's because he is _Hetson." _Lucas motioned his hand towards her once more, and Dawn remained still; her eyes lingering onto his hands and back up to his face. She was debating if she should grab his hand or not. And then he flashed her a charming smile, which made his blue eyes shine brighter than before. Sighing, Dawn rested her hand on his and he had pulled her back up on her feet before saying another comment, "Learn to not let him get to you; he's a jerk and we all know that."

"What he did to me in there was _wrong_," Dawn called in defense; her eyebrows furrowing down as if in anger. "He embarrassed me in there and tried to make _humor _out of it. How was I supposed to react? Oh—just be _okay _with it?"

Lucas had sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. Dawn caught the sight and an image of Paul's face clicked onto her head and it immediately faded away. She had blinked and quickly tore her eyes off of Lucas, biting hard on her lower lip. "I'm not saying that you can't stick up for yourself, because you can." He had sighed again when she had said nothing in response.

Dawn stared hard at the floor, a couple feet away from Lucas. Her eyes were irritating her like crazy due to all the tears that escaped its way out of her system. "Yeah," she had said plainly, no emotion in her.

Lucas stared at her from the back, and then furrowed his eyebrows together in a curious manner, "Your essay topic seems…pretty depressing." A coldness settled over Dawn just as soon as she heard him bringing this up. "I'm really, really sorry for your loss…"

She had opened her mouth and inhaled a large breath of air, "You know what sucks?" she breathed, having to not turn around and continuously concentrating on the floor. Lucas had raised his eyebrows at her; staring at her back. "Having to know the fact that no matter how much I miss him, he's _never _coming back…" her voice sounded as if she was about to break and Lucas felt his own heart inside of his chest hurting.

She had finally turned around and raised her hands partially. "I just wish that I didn't have to suffer with all of this pain held up inside of my chest, eating me alive like I'm a whole meal." Dawn held her hand deep against her chest, close enough to her heart as she let out a breath, "The only solution I can come up with is suicide. And if that's what ends all of this agony that _I _feel, then why not risk the chance?"

Anger was visible on Lucas' face and he quickly got up to her face, "Suicide is _not _an option; don't even think _twice _about that. I'm sure you're a much stronger person than that, Dawn."

She had stood quiet and then tears rushed through her eyelids and poured down her face. Lucas calmed his anger down after realizing she had started crying and he let out a soft sigh, pulling the crying blunette into his arms. She had cried for a while and he let her. After all that crying she had done, he mumbled, "Would you like for me to take you home?"

Dawn slowly glanced up at him and shook her head, "Uh, it's my dorm, actually, but yeah I guess."

"Which dorm?" he asked, curious.

She hadn't even thought twice if it was the best idea to tell him which dorm she was staying at, but then she just responded absentmindedly. "Dorm 27,"

A smirk slipped on his face and he cocked an eyebrow at her, "Nice to meet you, neighbor."

xxx

She had sniffed and glanced up at her dorm number. "So this is your dorm?" the boy with blue spiky hair asked. She had only nodded and wiped her eyes again, "Yeah, this is my dorm." Dawn placed her hand on the doorknob and slowly opened it, pushing her way in.

Once she opened the door, she saw Lyra playing around with her laptop on her lap. Her eyes immediately followed its way up to Dawn, and once it landed on Lucas her eyes brightened. "Oooh, who's the cutie?" she asked, reverting her eyes to her dear friend. Dawn placed her things down on the floor and climbed onto her bed momentarily, having to not respond to her question.

Lucas smirked at Lyra's comment and flashed a charming smile at her, "Lucas," he responded, "Your friend here was having a rough morning so, I decided to take her here, if you don't mind." He narrowed his eyes back on Dawn.

Lyra opened her mouth and then smiled, "Oh! No, it's fine, really." She looked at Dawn, lowering her voice. "It's good that she has finally found someone that cares for her that way…"

Lucas and Dawn glanced Lyra's way in unison. Lyra cleared her throat awkwardly when she realized she had spoken her last sentence louder than she thought; she just laughed innocently, "Well thanks anyway!" she beamed, still feeling that awkward feeling lingering in the room. The boy smiled and narrowed his eyes again on Dawn, "See you later," he called before exiting her dorm and closing the door along the way.

Lyra immediately glanced at Dawn and an excited smile was on her face, "That guy is so _hot! _You have to hook me up with him. But, if you like him, then nevermind, you can have him." Dawn broke out of her thoughts and laughed at her statement and sat up on her bed, looking at Lyra.

"Even if I did like Lucas, that's all it'll be." She responded, shrugging, "Nothing more."

"Why not?" her friend asked, confused.

"Because I'm not going to fall in love again," she stared at Lyra with a serious expression. Her brown headed friend just simply nodded and then frowned right after. She was beginning to become curious what had happened at school, so she decided to bring up the topic. "So what happened today? Why are you back so early?"

"I believed I talked about Mr. Hetson to you before," Dawn sighed, pulling down her bed sheets as she started to get comfortable in her bed. "He read one of my essays out loud to the class, and that essay happened to be the one about Paul…"

There was a moment of silence that filled into the air and Lyra's frown deepened when she realized how depressed Dawn must have been during class. "Well, Hetson is one big fat jerk," she huffed, crossing her arms. "He can't just use Paul against you, that is just _not_ cool."

Dawn found herself laughing at that statement silently, and she just shrugged however and laid her back down on the bed, fluttering her eyes closed. "Well, I'm going to take a nap." She spoke halfway, yawning. As she whipped her body around on one side of the bed, she couldn't help but smile slightly. "Hey, Lyra?"

"Yes?" her brown headed friend raised an eyebrow, an innocent smile on her face.

"Thank you,"

Confused, Lyra blinked over numerous times and chuckled lightly, "What?" as if, she heard correctly.

"Thank you for being there for me. You're a really good friend, Lyra. You're actually the only _girl _friend I've ever had that understood where I'm coming from, and doesn't judge me in anyway…" her voice trailed off for a moment, and an image of May's face flashed before her eyes. Dawn snapped her eyes shut, and found herself becoming angry, but she held her cool.

Her brown headed friend smiled widely, "Oh, it's no problem, Dawn. I'm not a shady person—I'll always be right there whenever you need me, whether it's on your sad or angry days, I'll still be there. Because that's what friends do, they are always _there_ for each other."

And then a thought clicked onto Dawn's mind.

"You know… I had a best friend that seemed to worry about me all the time, especially around Paul… she'd always tell me that he's not a good influence and that he's dangerous and shouldn't be trusted. The thing was, I loved him, so it really didn't matter to me if he was any of those things." She closed her eyes briefly. "I was really frustrated with my best friend. I felt like she was trying to destroy my relationship with him—that she didn't want me to be happy."

"Maybe she was concerned about you for a rather good purpose." Lyra exclaimed, furrowing her eyebrows in a curious matter. "Was there anything that Paul has done abnormally?"

Her eyes opened; another thought occurred into her mind and she shook it away, "No," she lied.

Another wave of silence filled into the air.

"Anyway, I'm really tired so, we'll chat in a few," purposely changing the subject, Dawn chuckled lightly and closed her eyes shut again. "Night!"

Lyra had said nothing, and just stared at her blue headed friend curiously. It was obvious that Dawn wasn't telling her the full truth, but since it was her past life, it really shouldn't matter now. With that said, Lyra just sighed and crashed her head down onto her pillow, staring at nothing but the colored walls enclosed around the room.

**Author's Note: Nothing very interesting happened in this chapter, **_**but **_**I must say that Paul will not appear in a few chapters, until later on. (: don't worry, he'll soon be in the picture again, so please **_**have patience**_**. More chapters would include the bond between Dawn and Lucas, and etc etc. Can't give out too much away. (: Haha review.**


	3. But, you're not here anymore

**Author's Note: I'm moving next week, so I apologize if I update a bit delayed. It's pretty hard to get good internet around when my internet is being taken away.**

**I realized I got some questions from one of my reviewers, so since I can't PM her I mine as well answer her questions here. (: **

**Steffy - Honestly, I came up with the idea of Scars by watching a whole bunch of horror movies and reading one of my favorite fanfiction authors horror/romance story, Sanctuary. I also came up with it by the way Paul's character is on the show, I can really picture him being a killer and all. (: And thank you for the birthday wish. - Effy is like the girl version of Paul. She wears a lot of dark make up, and dark clothing. Her hair is long with black/brown color and her eyes are the color of blue. No, she does not wear glasses haha. :p and she's known as a very weird, kinky girl. She dresses up as a goth girl one day, then another day she's dressed up as the schools hottest girl. She also had a rough past, just like Paul. I may be considering on writing a Prequel to Scars based on their relationship.**

**Ummmm, and guys may I ask again, please be **_**patient **_**with Paul**_**. **_**He will come back soon, I swear! I can't **_**rush**_** the relationship with Lucas and Dawn, that'd be too unrealistic, you know? I just wish some of you would just wait and have patience, sigh. But thanks to everyone who has been patient and still enjoys this story as much as I do. **

All day long she has been stressing herself out over trying to find a job. All jobs that she applied for all seemed to not accept her and it really became a handful. She wanted to find a job so she can do something else with her life, besides going to College and getting a great education. Dawn also needed some money spare for once. She wanted some money so she can decorate her dormitory with furniture and all of that other stuff.

Dawn ran a hand through her hair and pushed all of the papers she had in her hands under her arm. She continued to walk down the sidewalk, the moon shinning down on her and darkness covering the entire sky. Tonight, she was determined to find a job no matter how long it takes. It was just about to hit 9 o'clock and her stomach was growling of hunger. Dawn sighed again, closing her eyes and shut and then reopening them.

When she narrowed her eyes at a bar shop and the sign read open, Dawn couldn't help but push her way inside since she was too darn hungry and at the same time thirsty for a drink. There were many adults seated at their own tables, drinking amongst each other. Some female adults were standing on their tables, dancing their drunk selves off. Loud music was booming from here and there; Dawn could already feel herself developing an ear infection.

As she pushed her way through the crowded area, she finally made her way to the bar stand and let out a sigh of relief. There lay a trashcan and she immediately dumped the papers that were underneath her arm inside. She pushed herself up and sat down on an empty bar stool no one was sitting at and placed her head down into her hands; her elbows resting on the counter top. Dawn felt her head beginning to throb and she begged silently for all these people surrounded around her to stop making so much noise. "Is there anything you would like, miss?" one of the bartenders's asked her.

Dawn slowly brought her head back up, her eyes lingering down at the counter, "One glass of tequila would be fine, thanks." She told him, finally bringing her eyes up towards the bartender. Her heart immediately dropped slightly when she realized it was Lucas.

"Surprised to see you here," he told her, a smile on his face. He turned around to grab a glass and the strong alcohol for her. Dawn cleared her throat as Lucas poured the tequila into the empty glass, sliding the drink towards her as she took it, dropping her head back and swallowing the strong taste of alcohol that rolled down her tongue.

She soon slammed it back down onto the counter, returning her eyes towards Lucas. "I didn't know you worked at a bar," she mumbled in between closed lips. He flashed a cocky smirk towards her, "There's a lot of things you don't know about me,"

Dawn took another shot of tequila as the strong liquid once more rolled down her tongue; she then slammed the glass back down on the counter. Her eyes rolled back as she closed her eyes shut; tonight she felt like getting drunk out of her mind and no one can tell her what to do. She reopened her eyes and batted her eyelashes towards Lucas. "Interesting," she responded, pretending to be interested. She pushed the glass towards him with her knuckles and smiled innocently. "Another please," she tapped the bar impatiently.

Dawn wasn't normally much of drinker. Sure she enjoyed a glass of wine here and there, but she was never the type who liked to drink all the time. But today was an exception. Today, Dawn was going to get completely and utterly wasted until the memory of her depressing life was nothing but a distant haze.

This was the first bar she had come across in Twinleaf, and she had to say it was pretty darn huge. Before she even got here, she had been working off her ass on trying to find a job, but it turned out to be a failed attempt and she just wanted to rip her head off. Soon after, she was just walking down a sidewalk, then ended up here in this bar. It was a pretty nice place, dark blue booths and solid oak surfaces. A TV blared, tuned in the news giving updates on the current heat wave and possible power outage.

"Another please," she repeated herself louder this time, waving her hands towards Lucas and he just smirked at her.

"Maybe you should slow down there, love." He told her, becoming a little concerned with how she was behaving.

Dawn, who was a little bit tipsy and in no mood to take lip from any guy, responded: "Maybe you should do your job and pour me another drink." She cocked her head to the side, a wide smile forming on her face after she had spoken that sentence.

Lucas just shot up one eyebrow before reaching for the tap and pouring her a beer. It wasn't what she asked for but there was no way he was giving her anymore hard liquor. If she wanted to get wasted tonight, he wasn't going to let her. He slid the drink towards her and Dawn caught it quickly, dropping her head back as she let the hard liquor rush down her tongue. She immediately dropped the glass back down onto the counter with a disgusted look on her face. "What is this? Beer?" she muttered.

"You hadn't asked what kind of drink you wanted," he smiled at her innocently and Dawn gave a big frustrated groan.

"Give me the hard stuff, pleaseeee." She begged, her face dropping down into a pouty face and he only laughed her expression. He found it sort of cute with the face she was putting.

"You've had enough of the hard stuff," he looked down the counter at her empty glass that was filled with tequila, ready to be refilled again. He shot the blue haired girl one last look before returning to his job. Dawn sat sulking, sipping on her beer, for another fifteen minutes before the cute bartender appeared in front of her again.

"Still working on that one, sweetheart?" He gestured to the glass of beer that had barely been touched.

There was a defensive look on her face, "I'm not your sweetheart," she muttered angrily, putting her elbow on the countertop and dropping her chin into the palm of her hand.

He just chuckled, shaking his head. "So what has you getting drunk around this time?" he raised an eyebrow at her, beginning to clean down the counter with a rag around her empty glass of tequila, and filled glass of beer.

Dawn sighed and looked up at him, "Why do you care?" she tried to pick a small fight since she was that stubborn, but then again she wanted some entertainment for the night, so why not?

"Because I'm the bartender," he smiled. "Don't you know that it's customary for you to unload your problems onto me?" he responded with a smirk. Dawn rolled her eyes at him, becoming frustrated that he was not fighting back with her, but most likely flirting with her.

"Fine," she sighed finally, lingering her eyes back on him. She sat up straighter, and got more comfortable in her stool. "I've been trying to find a job all day, and so, nobody was accepting me when I applied for jobs and then I stumbled upon here, wanting to at least rest for once." Her stomach began to growl loudly and Lucas' eyes widened at the sound. She furrowed her eyebrows together, "I did not fart, that was my tummy growling," she muttered. "I'm freaking hungry,"

"You're looking for a job?" he raised his eyebrows at her. Dawn tried to take another sip of her beer without being disgusted, but she immediately spit it out once that awful taste rolled down her tongue. She finally nodded her head and muttered a "yes" in response. "Hold that thought," he replied, walking off elsewhere and Dawn sighed.

She let out an audible groan. Her head was starting to feel pretty damn fuzzy but the memory of her depressing life flooded her brain once more. She then forced those images at the back of her head, and it faded away. She looked around for another bartender, one that would be more willing to serve her a tequila shot, but before she could ask for one, he came back over. He wiped the countertop as he moved and stood in front of her, slamming down a bunch of papers in front of her. "Finish signing these papers and you start the job tomorrow," he smiled at her.

Dawn sat up straighter and shot him a confused look. "What?" It took her clueless mind a second to deduce what he was saying. "You own this place?" she had a surprised look on her face, looking around at the bar once more.

"Why so shocked?" Lucas asked, pretending to take that as an offensive comment.

"Nothing. Just—" Dawn looked around again. "If you own this place then why are you working as a bartender? Shouldn't you be out watching the bartenders doing their job?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Actually, the point of being a boss is that I _have _to be a bartender as well," he told her, "And yeah, I do watch if the other bartenders are doing their job." He looked at the other bartenders right now and they seemed to be doing what they needed to be doing just fine. "And that's what they're doing right now," he narrowed his eyes back on her.

Dawn stared down at the papers again, gulping down that large lump in her throat. "But, why are you giving me application papers?" she said again, becoming even more confused.

"You said you needed a job, right?" she nodded her head simply at his question. "Then I'm offering you one," He pushed the paper more towards her, along with a black pen. "Here," Dawn stared down at the papers before her and then glanced back up at him.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she had her hand up, her eyebrows furrowed together in a questioning manner.

Lucas smiled at her again. "Like I told you the other day, _nobody _deserves to be treated unkindly." He smirked at her, and then left off to the other people that were calling to be served drinks.

Dawn sighed again, bringing her eyes back down towards the papers in front of her. Before she even started to sign anything, she picked up the stack of papers in her hands, flipping the pages as the cool breeze hit her in the face. After a while, the papers fell back into place. Biting her lip, she picked up the pen into her hand and began signing in any space that was blank.

When she finished signing the papers, she brought her head back up, in search of Lucas' face anywhere. And once she spotted him, she whistled loudly which immediately caught his attention. He walked back over to her, and raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes, love?"

She furrowed her eyebrows again, "Stop calling me that," she muttered bitterly and pushed the papers towards him. "I already finished signing. So… do I start now, or what?" her eyebrows were raised in a curious manner.

"Actually, you start tomorrow at 5 pm. Right after school," he responded. Just by that response, she groaned to herself.

"Well this day just gets better and better." She moaned, attempting to stand from the stool, but stumbling and catching herself against the counter.

"Woah, there." Lucas said, reaching across the counter to steady her. "Sit down, sweetheart, I'm calling you a cab." Dawn stared at him as if he were crazy.

"I'm perfectly capable of calling myself a cab," she retorted, attempting to put a hand on her hip but landing more along her thigh. Lucas laughed at the sight and nodded, before lifting up his phone and calling her a cab anyway. She sighed with irritation after he had hung up. "Sit down, they'll be here soon."

"Why do you have to be such a gentlemen?" she pouted, folding her arms together. She finally dropped back down onto the stool and placed her elbow against the countertop and settled her chin right back down on her palm.

Lucas shrugged, cleaning around the countertop once more with the rag. "That's the way I am," he responded, "I was raised to be one." He looked up at her and smiled. "Besides, why not be such a gentlemen when there's a gorgeous girl sitting in front of me?"

Dawn felt a warm blush rise in her cheeks, but she immediately tried her best to stop blushing. Lucas was insanely hot and Dawn couldn't say that she was developing a small school girl crush on him. It was just a little crush, nothing more. She promised she wouldn't fall in love again, and she's keeping that promise. Or at least, she's determined to. Her heart still belongs with Paul…

"Thanks," she avoided eye contact with him, pretending to be interested in something elsewhere. "I think," she muttered, finally bringing her attention towards him after pushing away that thought of Paul. Dawn moved to stand up from her stool, but Lucas raised an eyebrow at her curiously.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Dawn stared at him for a moment and then responded, "To the bathroom," she told him. "I'll be right back,"

Lucas watched as she left off passed the crowded people and into the back of the bar where the restrooms were held. He had to say, the restrooms were pretty disgusting and he was thinking about calling someone to clean it up.

Dawn pushed the restroom door open, and sighed as she reached one of the restrooms sinks. She brought her head up to look at herself; her head beginning to throb even more now that the music was becoming louder since she was in a bathroom. Her vision was becoming blurry and she felt herself about to trip over herself or even pass out.

After a minute of staring at her reflection in the mirror, she stumbled her way out of the bathroom and discovered all of the crowded people once again. She found herself stumbling even more as she walked passed these people, her vision becoming worse than ever. She hadn't even drunk that much tonight, so why was her vision already becoming foggy?

Somehow, someway, she managed to reach the bar stand again, and she hailed herself up back into the same stool. Her blue bangs fell over her forehead and she glanced up at the bartender before her, realizing it was Lucas. "Are you okay?" he asked; a concerned look on his face.

"I'm fine," she responded, taking a large sip of the beer he had served for her moments ago. Lucas was surprised that she hasn't spitted out the beer, but he hadn't questioned it. Then again, she looked a bit tipsy and he was beginning to wonder if she was going to pass out any minute.

"I think I should take you to your dorm, instead." He suggested.

Dawn looked at him as if he were crazy, "Don't be ridiculous," she said, swatting his hand away from her. "You called a cab so they can take me home. And I am going home in that cab,"

"You don't look too good," he told her in all seriousness.

"I'm fine," She stumbled her way back off of her stool, and this time she had felt completely sick. She placed a hand upon her forehead and soon fell to the floor, fainting completely. Lucas' eyes widened suddenly, "Dawn!" he yelled, rushing his way out of the bar stand, and to her side. He hoisted her up into his arms after a moment and sighed when he looked down at her. She obviously drank a little bit too much since she had passed out on him.

He guessed the cab was going to be a little delayed, so he decided to take her back to her dorm anyway. Before he can go on and take her back to her dorm, he tapped on one of his bartenders shoulder. The bartender turned around to face him. "I'm going to step out for a moment to take this girl home. In the meantime, stay on task." He demanded. The bartender nodded at him, and Lucas left out of the bar with Dawn in his arms.

"What are you doing?" she asked, opening her eyes again and seeing nothing but a blur.

Lucas started to walk down an empty sidewalk with the girl in his arms, "Taking you home," he muttered.

She furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion, taking one glance around her surroundings. All she could see was a blurry street before her filled with cars passing by, and stores, and a sidewalk. "Wasn't a cab supposed to take me home?"

He simply nodded, "Yeah, but since you literally just passed out in there; it's best to take you home."

"You can't just leave the place you own," she moaned, placing a hand upon her head, glancing up at him although she could hardly see him perfectly clear.

"Actually, I can." He smiled, continuing to walk with her in his arms. Dawn decided to stop talking since her head was beginning to hurt even more. And after a while she fell asleep in his arms, and he only shook his head when he noticed.

It took him about 30 minutes to get around her dormitory, and he had knocked on the door of her dorm, waiting for her brown haired friend to open up the door. When Lyra opened the door, she looked tired as ever and she let out a yawn. She had furrowed her eyebrows together and took a glance at Lucas then another glance at Dawn. "It's you again?" she yawned tiredly.

"Well that's a rude way to greet someone." Lucas commented, narrowing his head towards the neat bed settled around the right corner of the room; he assumed it was Dawn's. "May I?" he raised his eyebrows.

Lyra looked at him confusion, then narrowed her eyes at Dawn's bed. She noticed he was referring her to settling her down there, she then nodded, "Yeah, sure." She yawned again, taking a few steps back for he can come in. Lucas cast another glance at Lyra before slowly walking inside her dorm, settling Dawn upon her bed.

She looked tired off her ass; she really needed rest and he was hoping that after tonight she'll feel much better. After staring at Dawn for a while, he looked at Lyra again. "Thanks," he waved a hand at her before heading towards the door.

"Wait," Lyra called for him.

He turned around to face her. "She just lost someone she loved," she sighed. "I'm not sure if she's ready to move on yet, but if she does, I want you to be good to her. And comfort her. She really needs someone to be there for her…" she took one glance at Dawn, and she looked like she was sleeping peacefully, although she was lying the opposite way where she can tell if she was sleeping or not. "Don't rush what you guys are developing now… she's still not in a good state, and it's not good for you to start something with her now, if you were to."

He stared at her for the longest time and then responded, "He's her first love. I intend to be her last," he cast one last glance at Dawn. "However long it takes…" with that being said, he exited out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Dawn let out a breath of air after hearing everything, then finally closed her eyes shut.

**Author's Note: The next update will probably be a little delayed. That is because I'm moving, and I believe I already mentioned that in the first author's note of this chapter.**

**In about three more chapters, Paul may or may not appear. I'm not including him in between certain scenes yet because it'll give too much away and I don't want to spoil anything for you guys. (: And I ask again, please be **_**patient.**_** He'll be in the picture soon… reviews please?**


	4. And it's hard for me to accept that

**Author's Note: Sorry that I've took a while to update, guys. :/ it's because of the move, and I stayed at my aunties house for a while now and she had no internet. But, I was able to continue writing and proofreading although there wasn't internet.**

**qwerty – I've been waiting for a question like this! But, I can't really answer your question with the exact answer because it'll give a lot away within this story. :/ and I want to surprise you along with my other readers. But if it helps, try rereading the description/plot for this story. Maybe you'll get an idea for why Paul hadn't come back yet. (:**

**reppad98 – I love the way you're thinking about Lucas haha xD he is a sweet one, but I'm not giving too much away about him. (:**

**I think I'm getting some new readers somehow, yay! I guess the first part of this story made the second part become a big hit. (: I've never had a lot of reviews with just three chapters before, (im so happy haha). I'm glad all of you are enjoying this story. You guys are the ones that keeps me going! I wouldn't have made a sequel if it wasn't for you guys, so thank you. :D **

**Things start to spice up around these chapters, since I am moving things a little bit faster.**

In anger, she slammed the glass of alcohol down onto the counter, her eyes blazing and evident in irritation. "You asked for a champagne, _hun. _Either you take it—_" _she pushed the glass with her fist over to the older girl with an annoyed look on her face. "—or leave it." She spat with such bitter hate.

The older girl flipped her blonde curls to the side, and brought her face closer to the blue headed bartender. "I asked for a _tequila, _for your information." Her eyebrows furrowed together when this person tried to pick a fight with her, "Either you fix my drink or I'll get your ass fired."

Dawn laughed at her ridiculous statement, pushing her body off the counter. "You can't get me fired," she told the older woman. "You ordered a _champagne. _It's not my fault that you can't remember what kind of drink you ordered,"

"Are you insulting me?" the woman asked, her arms folding together.

Dawn poured herself a tequila and purposely chugged it to the bottom, slamming her glass down onto the counter before the older woman. There was an evil smirk playing on her lips. "No, sweetheart." She murmured, beginning to tie her hair up into a neat ponytail. "I'm just stating the facts." Dawn grabbed the bottle of tequila again, beginning to pour herself another round into an empty glass.

The older woman laughed in her face and grabbed the empty glass sitting on the counter in her hands, throwing it at Dawn's black uniform shirt as it caught her off guard. The glass soon shattered on the floor before her, and her jaw dropped when she realized what the older woman had done. She slowly narrowed her eyes towards the woman with an innocent smirk on her face.

Angrily, she brought up the tequila bottle in her hands, and dumped the rest of the alcohol above the older woman's head; the strong liquid flowing down her dirty blonde hair and down her ridiculous clothing. Dawn watched as the older woman gasped and wined at her actions; she enjoyed every bit of it. When the bottle was empty, she slammed the bottle down onto the counter and smiled widely. "That's what happens when you mess with Dawn freaking Berlitz!"

"Again?" that smile that was on her face immediately fell flat when she heard Lucas. A groan escaped her lips. She folded her arms together when he reached her side. He was helping the older woman out with a mini towel, trying his best to dry up her hair and clothing. "I'm so sorry," he told her. "She just tends to get a little out of hand when she's angry," he chuckled lightly.

Dawn rolled her eyes at his comment. "A _little?_" the woman denied, her eyebrows raising. "That little bitch needs some freaking anger management classes," she tried to clung forward to try to hit Dawn, but Lucas immediately grabbed her by the wrists, his grip tightening.

"Whoa there," he let out a shaky breath and slowly walked around the counter, his grip remaining on her wrists. "I think you should get on home now, there's no need to be fighting around here." He got her off her feet as they began walking slowly out of the crowded area.

The woman struggled to get out of his grip. "No, I want to rip her head off!" she screamed over the loud music and Lucas just nodded his head. "You can do that somewhere else, but not here love." He motioned her outside, but once she tried to push through to get back in he grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Let me back inside!" she demanded, her foot stomping hard on the concrete. Lucas furrowed his eyebrows together and chuckled lightly. "There's no need to be fighting," he reassured her, "If you really want to unleash your anger, unleash it somewhere else, but this is not the place sweetheart."

"Who the hell are you?" she had screamed.

Lucas stared at her for the longest moment and then responded, "The person who owns this place. Now before you make things worse, I suggest you leave."

The older woman stared at him for a while and she groaned in frustration, releasing her body from his grip and stomping off some place else. Lucas let out a heavy sigh and walked back inside the bar.

The crowd looked like it got a bit wider, but he hadn't questioned it. Instead, he brushed through all of the people surrounded in the place and finally reached the bar counter, his eyes falling flat on Dawn. He had a serious look on his face as he walked around the counter to reach her and Dawn only twirled a piece of hair innocently, her eyes lingering elsewhere.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" he raised his voice.

Dawn slowly narrowed her eyes at him, and then stopped twirling her hair. "She started it," she responded, forcing herself to look away.

Lucas sucked his teeth and took a step closer to her. "The customer is always right, Dawn, no matter what."

"But—"

"It doesn't matter if they started it, the customer is always right." He practically shouted and Dawn only groaned loudly. "Do I have to repeat this over and over again 'til you get it through your thick skull?"

She whipped her head at him, her eyes blaring in anger again. "I'm sorry that every person that shows up to this freaking place always has to start something with me." She shouted with rage, equally irritated. She grabbed a rag in hand and started cleaning up the countertop in frustration.

"You need to learn how to push your anger to the side and be the better person." He reassured her, and then shrugged. "So what if they want to start a small fight with you—if you actually try to stay calm for once, things will work out."

"Then I quit," she threw the rag she was holding, on top of the counter, beginning to brush pass him. Before she could however, he stopped her and she groaned when she felt his hand grip her by the arm.

"You can't just quit?" he had a confused look on his face. "You said you needed a job, and I'm not letting you go that easily."

Confusion filled her face completely and she whipped her head towards him, "What's that supposed to mean?" she forced her arm out of his grip after a moment and raised an irritated eyebrow at him. "I'm not _wrapped around your finger, _so I suggest back off." She told him simply.

Lucas just let out a laugh, "That's not what I meant," he said truthfully, "I just care about you, that's all. And you came to this bar just the other day, telling me that you were in desperate need of a job and now you just…" he trailed off, taking a glance around his bar and back at her, his eyebrows furrowing together. "Want to throw it all away?"

She folded her arms together, "My personal needs is none of your concern." She darkened her eyes on him.

"Can you guys just fucking kiss and make up? I want my damn beer already," a voice growled.

The two whipped their heads at the agitated customer in unison, realizing that it was Professor Hetson. Dawn immediately let out a frustrated groan along with an eyeroll. "I'm so out of here," she grumbled, pushing herself off the counter before walking around it; she soon disappeared somewhere into the crowded area and out the bar.

Lucas tried to run after her, but before he even disappeared into the crowded area, Hetson's hand was locked around his arm. "Before you run after that damn girl, can I get my fucking drink?" he demanded. Lucas was in no mood to be putting up with his shit right now, not after upsetting Dawn.

He turned his head to Hetson and forced his arm out of his grip. He didn't have any intention on saying anything to this man whatsoever so he brushed passed him and walked back around the bar stand. He grabbed a glass in his hand and poured enough beer for Hetson to be satisfied. He slammed the glass down and slid it towards him.

Hetson stared down at the drink, an annoyed look on his face. "I want a whole glass, you dumbass." Lucas held in every urge to not hit this guy in the jaw right now.

He simply grabbed a larger glass and poured beer into that drink, slamming that one down in anger as half of the beer tipped out of it and fell along the countertop. Hetson had the same expression on his face and Lucas placed the beer bottle back into place. "Enjoy it while you fucking can," he mumbled as he walked around the bar stand and disappeared off into the large group of people, soon leaving out the front doors of the bar.

When he made it outside, he looked around to see if Dawn was anywhere and he soon spotted her walking along the sidewalk with her arms crossed. He let out a heavy sigh and quickly rushed to her side in no time. "Dawn," he let out a breath.

Dawn kept her mouth shut and continued walking on, pretending he wasn't there. "You can't just walk away from this," he told her. She closed her eyes shut and opened them again, beginning to pick up the pace. She had also did her best to mute out his voice. But then she heard his footsteps rushing to her side once more; she was growing irritated by the fact. "Can you leave me alone!" she whipped her whole body around to face him, them both stopping in their tracks.

"You have no right to tell me what to do! If I want to quit, then so be it." She shouted loudly, raising her hands in defense. "My life shouldn't matter to you anyway—it's my life, not yours!"

"I'm just trying to help you—"

"I don't want any help!" she screamed. "Stop trying to help me, all of you need to stop trying to help me."

Lucas stared at her in confusion, "I want you to be happy." He told her.

Dawn laughed in his face, "Of course," she started walking off in the same direction again, "You intend to be my last love," she laughed again, folding her arms together.

Lucas stared at her confusingly then he soon realized what she meant. He groaned immediately, beginning to walk after her again. "You wasn't supposed to hear that,"

"Well, I have." She spat in defense, "And for your information, you will _never_ be my last love."

Lucas stopped in his tracks. Dawn slowed down after realizing what she had said and turned around to face him. "I'm sorry," she admitted. "But you…can't replace Paul. Nobody can replace Paul." She said truthfully, a long silence forming between them. She looked down, "My first…and last love is…" she trailed off, feeling herself becoming close to her break, but she held in all of her emotions. "Always going to be him." She told him, bringing her head back up. "I intend to never fall in love again, and I'm not letting you screw it up for me. I'm sorry if you can't accept that."

Lucas remained quiet, his eyes dawning on her. Dawn let out a heavy breath, "And you may feel the pain crashing down on you now, but you will _never _go through the pain that I went through…" with that, she walked off again.

This time, he hadn't bothered to run after her.

**Author's Note: The story is slowly progressing, but a lot will happen. (: I ask you guys for your patience again, I plan to extend this story like I did with the first part. :p **

**Also, I am at my cousin's house at this moment. I think I'm just staying here for two days, so sadly I don't know if I can update sooner. **** I still haven't got a house yet, grr. -_- anyway, review!**


	5. Then there's this guy

**Author's Note: I thought I should update quicker, just for you guys. (: and plus I mine as well since there's internet in this place.**

A frustrated vein was popping from her forehead as she tapped her laptop rim impatiently. When her friend finally answered the video call, she found herself sighing in relief. "Drew?" she spoke loudly, unable to see his face on the screen yet. It was loading, but she was hearing a lot of ruckus in the background. His face eventually appeared on the screen moments later.

Dawn immediately chuckled lightly to herself when she saw how much of a mess he looked. His hair was all over the place. "Hey Dawn," he spoke loud enough for her to hear.

She tried her best to control her laughter and responded only a second later, "Geez, what happened to you?" she asked, chuckling once more.

Drew gave her an odd look and soon realized what she meant, "Oh!" he laughed to himself. "That was uh, May. We was uh…" he clapped his hands together, "You know…" he trailed off, smiling innocently.

Dawn's eyes widened instantly. "Oh my god you have sex hair," she laughed even harder this time, her hand covering over her mouth.

"Hahaha, real funny." Drew commented, rolling his eyes.

It took her a moment to stop laughing and she brought her head back up, "I should've known." She chuckled again and Drew stared at her, clearly not amused. She automatically put her hands up in defense, "I used to leave Paul like that too."

"I'm sure you have," he simply nodded, then chuckled lightly. Soon after, it became silent again.

"You miss him, don't you?"

Dawn's head shot up at his words and she felt a familiar emotion run through her body. She let out a shaky breath, "Yeah," she closed her mouth shut and looked down at her hands.

Dawn sighed heavily after a while. "Well today was a rough day," she told him, changing the subject, remembering the previous events of that day.

"How come?" he wondered, his eyebrow raised.

"I've been looking for a job for weeks, right, and then all of a sudden I come across this bar and see one of my friends from school working there, Lucas. So I decided to stop by and have at least a drink because I was so exhausted from job hunting. He started to wonder why I was even at a bar trying to get wasted." She chuckled lightly as she remembered the thought. "Funny thing is—" she paused, "—he offered me a job application for the bar. That's when I realized that he owns that bar."

"Well that's interesting," Drew laughed silently to himself.

"That's not even the best part," she continued. "After literally fainting from all of the alcohol I took that night, he took me back to my dorm and I overheard him speaking with my roommate about 'Oh, Paul is her first love, I intend to be her last,' like what the shit is that?" she raised her hands and Drew's eyes widened.

"Sounds like the guy is obsessed," he commented, "I suggest you be careful with him."

"I actually don't want anything to do with him," she stated, her thoughts lingering to what had happened that night. "He's an absolute jerk." She rested her back against her pillow and brought her laptop closer to her.

"I started working at that bar and I've became really frustrated over these past few weeks. All the customers either had some nasty attitudes with me and you know that I can't stay with a positive attitude when I'm being treated like shit." Drew laughed at that statement again and Dawn stared at him with a bored expression. Soon after, he did his best to hold in his laughter and he motioned for her to continue talking.

She let out another breath before speaking, "So today, this girl came up inside a bar and asked for a champagne, so I gave her a shot of champagne and she was like 'Oh, I asked for a tequila, not a champagne,' and then I got into a huge argument with her about it because she asked for a freaking champagne! Not a damn tequila." Dawn rolled her eyes, "Then Lucas came in to stop the fight. And then he took her outside to cool off her steam or whatever the hell and then he came back inside and told me 'The customer is always right.' Blah blah blah—I don't care if the customer is always right! This time the customer wasn't, and I had a right to argue with her—I"

"The customer _is _always right, Dawn." Drew told her. Dawn just glared at him. "I don't care," she spat.

"I felt like I was right and she wasn't. So then I just got mad and decided to quit, I couldn't handle it anymore. But guess what else happened?" Drew raised his eyebrows. "Lucas followed me and had the nerve to think that he can just stop me and control me whenever he wants. So I specifically told him to his face that he will never be my last love. That he can never replace Paul, no matter how hard he tries."

Drew remained quiet for a moment and began speaking, "Well that's kinda messed him how you told him to back off that way," he thought.

Dawn shrugged, "He needs to understand that I don't want to fall in love again, Drew. I love Paul!" she shouted, "It's always going to be Paul. He will always be the one I love, not Lucas." She could feel tears beginning to fill in her eyes, but she held them back.

He nodded his head in understanding and sighed heavily. "I understand," he said lowly.

And then the silence that was there lingered into the air once more. Soon after, Dawn let out a heavy breath, "Well I'm going to bed," she told him, her eyes falling onto the screen once more. "Goodnight,"

Drew frowned, "Get some good rest, okay?" he sighed again. "Goodnight."

She nodded her head slowly and pressed the exit button, Drew's face disappearing from her screen. She sighed heavily once more and shut down her laptop, closing it.

Tears fell from her eyes and she pushed the laptop to the side of her bed. She cast a look at Lyra and realized she was still sleeping. A thought crossed through her head and she finally laid her head back into the pillow. After a long while, she soon fell into a deep sleep.

xxx

All eyes fell on her as soon as she entered the classroom, and she rolled her eyes at this again. Her being late is really not that damn serious for everyone to be gawking at her like she just murdered someone. "Are you just gonna stand there looking like an idiot or are you going to head on to your seat?" Hetson barked with irritation.

Dawn was in no mood to put up with his shit today. "I was just about to," She snapped back, her eyes rolling once more. She let out a breath and walked over to her table as she settled into her seat.

"Someone's grumpy today," Hetson joked and Dawn glared at his comment. She let it slide soon after and got her things settled on her desk. She started copying down the notes that was on the board; it seems as if they had to work on a big project about Nicholas Sparks. More like a ten page essay they had to do. Dawn's eyes softened for a moment and she sighed again, her eyes lingering onto the other classmates in the room. She spotted Lucas quickly, and he was writing in his notebook.

She frowned however, sighing as she remembered their last night together which ended badly. Hetson cleared his throat and everyone's attention reverted back to him. "I expect for all of you to write one of the best essays based on Nicholas Sparks. Obviously the guy is one of the most famous writers in this entire world and if you want to be a writer, I believe this is the best way to start." Dawn furrowed her eyes together at Hetson's weird behavior. He never lasts up to two or three sentences without saying any curse words, as a matter of fact talking nicely to every one of his students.

"And if any of you fail epically, I won't even think twice to burn your damn essays into pieces." Dawn soon regretted her thoughts instantly. "No copying and pasting, you know the rules." He shifted his glasses with his knuckles and stood in the middle of the classroom.

"Alright, get started." He turned around and began walking back to his desk and Dawn let out a heavy sigh. She noticed everyone beginning to write in their notebooks and she couldn't get one thing written down.

She hardly knew about Nicholas Sparks. Yes, she knows that he's one of the world's most famous writers and written the films 'A Walk to Remember', 'Dear John', 'The Last Song', and plenty more. But she hardly knew about the guy. Apparently everyone else in the room must have known since they were writing in their notebooks. She felt like the odd one in the room that still hadn't written anything yet, besides her name and the date.

She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and slowly got up from her seat, a loud screech echoed off as the chair moved and most of the student's narrowed their eyes at her. She ignored them and walked over to Hetson. Hetson must have guessed it was her considering he mumbled, 'What do you want?' in annoyance.

Dawn placed her elbows on top of his desk and settled her chin upon her hands. "I have a slight problem," she whispered.

Hetson raised an eyebrow at her and looked up. He brought his finger up to adjust his glasses. "And that is?"

"I hardly know anything about Nicholas Sparks." She admitted, "So I can't really write a ten page essay if I hardly know anything about him."

"Just google his biography and there you go," he shrugged, his eyes lingering down to his paperwork as he began writing something down. Dawn sighed in irritation.

"Can you at least give me a short summary so I can have an idea of what to write—"

"I'm not helping you, Ms. Berlitz." He told her darkly, irritation forming in his eyes. "If you fail, you fail. That's not my problem—I've been waiting for months to burn an essay of yours and I'll be gladly to." He smiled at her widely.

Dawn's mouth dropped slightly and she just glared at him. "You are such a jerk!" she spat angrily, her voice low however. She turned on her heel and stomped quietly back to her desk, sitting her butt back down. She let out a sigh and frowned once she looked at her paper. She didn't know what to write! It's hard to write a ten page essay based on someone you hardly know about.

Dawn could feel a headache rising in her head and she glanced at Lucas across the room. Hope was filling inside of her. Maybe, just maybe, he could help her. If she just apologizes for what she had said to him the other night then maybe he'll forgive her and equally help her with the assignment. All she had to do was hope, and that's what she did for the entire period.

When class was over, she took the opportunity to talk him into helping her. She quickly gathered her things together and rushed passed all of the students that was now exiting the room. She happened to catch Lucas being the first one out and spotted him in less than a second. The hallway was crowded and she recognized that blue hair instantly. "Lucas!" she shouted among all of the other voices.

Lucas stopped walking after hearing his name and once he turned around, he noticed the blunette rushing to his side; the girl trying to catch her breath. "I need to talk to you," she told him breathlessly.

He stared at her for a long moment and then folded his arms together. "What do you want?" he was in no mood to talk to her, after what she had said to him the other night.

"I'm sorry..." she choked out, frowning. "It's just, it's not easy to get over my ex, okay? You can't just come between someone that is still in love with their ex…" she trailed off, furrowing her eyebrows together and she just smiled partially at him.

Lucas sucked his teeth and shook his head, turning away to continue walking off. Dawn quickly grabbed him by the shoulder and whipped him back around. "I know you're mad at me, but you can't be mad at me forever!" she shouted, her hands curling into a ball.

Lucas walked off again and Dawn felt a whole lot of anger rise in the pit of her stomach. "I need your help!" she shouted; earning other glances her way. When she thought Lucas was going to continue walking, he stopped and turned around to face her. There were still other voices lingering in the air, so they weren't really the center of attention.

He walked back up to her, and spoke back calmly. "With what?" he mumbled.

"Hetson's assignment…" she looked up at him, hoping that he will consider on helping her.

Lucas laughed in her face, "Yeah, I could really care less if you fail that assignment." He told her truthfully.

She stared at him in surprise, her eyebrows furrowing together. "What?" she continued, "Wow, what I said to you the other night is really not that damn serious—"

"Well to me it is!" he shouted at her and she opened her mouth to protest, but he beat her to it. "Don't say _anything,_" he pointed his index finger at her lips and soon brought his finger back down.

He took a few steps back with his eyes dawning on her and he left, leaving her there in the hallway.

xxx

"You don't know anything about Nicholas Sparks?" Dawn sighed, disappointed that Lyra hardly knows anything about him either.

"I do know he wrote A Walk to Remember and all of the other movies, but that's it." She shrugged, returning her attention back to her phone.

Dawn groaned quietly and looked down at her notebooks that were placed on her bed. "Well then I mine as well go to the library and try to find something." She sighed.

xxx

The whole week she spent every night going to the library, trying to find enough information on Nicholas Sparks. There was a lot to learn about this guy and it was even harder to get it down on paper. She was struggling every day, typing paragraphs down and retyping them all over again when she found an error.

It was getting closer and closer to the day it was due, and yet she still hadn't gotten at least five pages done. She sighed to herself and stopped typing away; she could feel herself getting a headache just from all of this stress.

She grabbed her starbucks coffee in hand and took a large sip before settling it back down on the table. She then took a brief look around her surroundings and realized that the library was just about to start closing, and she sighed just by the thought. Today was the last day to work on the assignment, now how is she going to work on it now, now that she can't stay at the library?

xxx

Lucas paced around his room, running a hand through his blue locks over and over again. He wasn't sure for the way he behaved today. Dawn needed his help and he refused to help her. The only reason he did that was because she had hurt him, and he thought she deserved that in return. But then again, he felt guilty for it. He should've helped her when he had the chance considering tomorrow is the due date.

Probably she did find help, and she is doing just fine without him. But then again, he wondered if she hadn't found him. He sighed heavily and grabbed his jacket, exiting out of his dorm.

He quickly jogged to Dawn's dorm and knocked on the door with impatience. It took a while for her to open the door, and it was starting to get him frustrated.

When the door finally opened, he expected to see Dawn's face, but he saw her roommate, Lyra instead. He took a moment to say something, "Is Dawn here?" he asked, his eyebrows raising.

Lyra stared at him as if he was crazy and crossed her arms over her chest. "She's somewhere you're not," she spat, her eyes rolling. He furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion. What's with her?

"Can you be more specific?" he responded just as coldly.

Lyra placed a hand on her hip, "You think that_ I_ will be more specific? Considering that _you _refused to help her when she needed you the most."

He glared at her and took a step forward. "Let me make this clear, love." She raised her head, "I know you care about her and all, but I am here to see her and apologize for the way I acted. And perhaps help her on that assignment."

She simply pursed her lips together and then finally let out a heavy sigh. "She's not here," she told him in all honesty. He only raised his eyebrow at her as if he believed otherwise. Lyra glared at him, "She's at the library. She's been there all week,"

Lucas again believed otherwise and he took a step forward to push the door open, revealing the entire room. She was right, Dawn wasn't there. Lucas groaned in annoyance and shot a soft glare towards Lyra. "Thanks," he groaned and he soon left in a hurry.

xxx

"Piplup," the water Pokémon smiled, pouring more water into a cup for his trainer.

Dawn gratefully took the cup into her hands and chugged it down until it was empty. She let out another sigh and began gathering her papers together. "Looks like I'm going to fail this assignment after all," she frowned. All she had gotten done was about four pages after all the hard work she put into it. Writing a ten page biography about someone you hardly knew about is like one of the hardest things in the world, according to her.

"Piplup," her water Pokémon patted her on the thigh and she gave a warm smile towards it.

"Thanks Piplup," she smiled and narrowed her eyes at the clock that was on the wall. She sighed when it read 11:50 pm. All she thought about was getting cursed out by Professor Hetson about how awful her assignment turned out to be.

She frowned again and called out for her Piplup to return into its Pokéball. Once it had done so, she sighed again and placed Piplup's Pokéball inside her purse.

"Miss?" the librarian called.

Dawn brought her head up at the sound of the librarian's voice. "The library is closing," the librarian told her. "It's time for you to leave." Dawn nodded her head and forced a smile.

She looked down at the papers scattered by the computer desk and quickly gotten them picked them up in hand, clinging her purse to her shoulder. That's when she realized she was by herself in this situation and all she could do was close her eyes at that moment. Tears were beginning to roll down her eyes and down her cheeks and she let out a shaky breath.

After having a mini break down, she pushed the chair under the desk and walked out of the library with tears still running down her face; mascara beginning to stain her cheeks.

She pushed her purse up higher on her shoulder as soon as she made it outside. Once she took one glance up after exiting the library, she froze in place at the person before her and her voice hitched.

The silence fell into the air before them.

Lucas opened his mouth to break the silence, "I wanna help you." He suggested. Dawn had said nothing; all she did was stare at him with tears still running down her cheeks.

For a moment, he thought she would scream at him or punch or him, but instead she did the opposite. She had walked up to him and hugged him tightly without saying a word. Of course, he was cut off guard but he soon cherished the moment and hugged her back.

**Author's Note: Spoiler alert… after the next chapter, that's when things start to become a bit suspicious in certain parts.**

**I don't know when the next update is going to be, but I hope it'll be soon. I hate moving…**

**Review lovelies, hehe. This story is going to leave you guys at the edge of your seats! Just like how it left you guys with Scars. Probably not now, but very soon. (;**


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